Posted on 09/20/2014 3:51:38 AM PDT by NYer
Pope Francis has given a new direction to the American Church by appointing the bishop of Spokane, Blase Joseph Cupich, 65, as the ninth archbishop of Chicago.
The archbishop-elect is a highly-talented leader, a pastor with vision, together with long, varied and successful pastoral and administrative experience in two dioceses and a college. He is totally committed to the culture of encounter, does not engage in confrontation, has a zero-tolerance line on child abuse, and is deeply committed to the poor and marginalized.
He succeeds Cardinal Francis George who has governed the archdiocese – the third largest in the country with 2.3 million Catholics and the largest Catholic charities, health care and school systems - for the past 17 years. Earlier this year, the cardinal who is combatting cancer asked the Holy See to appoint his successor.
The Vatican confirmed the news of Bishop Cupich’s appointment at midday (Rome time) Saturday, seven hours ahead of the Chicago press conference called for the same purpose.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 19 March 1949, one of nine children of Croatian-American parents, after finishing high school, Blase Cupich (pronounced ‘Soupich) entered the College of St Thomas in St Paul, Minnesota, as a student for the archdiocese of Omaha. He gained his B.A. degree in Philosophy at the university there in 1971. Sent to train for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome (1971-75), he gained degrees in theology from the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University, and was ordained priest in 1975. Later, in 1987, he gained his doctoral degree in Sacramental Theology from the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
Back in his home diocese, he served in a parish (1975-78) and held liturgical and youth roles (1978-81) before being called to work as Secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature, Washington D.C. (1981-87), under Archbishop (later cardinal) Pio Laghi. Two years later, he was appointed Rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio (1989-96).
After more years as pastor in a parish, John Paul II appointed him as bishop of Rapid City diocese, South Dakota, (1998-2010), one of the smallest and poorest dioceses in the USA. There he considerably reduced the diocesan debts, built a home for retired and elderly priests, related well with priests and lay people, and made friends with the native American Lakota people who called him “White Thunder”.
Over the years he served on several committees of the Bishops’ Conference including the ones dealing with child abuse and the safeguarding of children. He was Chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children from 2008-13 and in this role gave good leadership and insisted on ongoing reform in this area. Perhaps because of his experience in this field, Benedict XVI sent him to the diocese of Spokane in 2010, which was beset by abuse claims and bankruptcy, which claims he helped resolve through mediation. Recently he just published a four-year plan for that diocese based on local consultation and Pope Francis’ programmatic document, “The Joy of the Gospel”.
When asked by the New York Times after the plenary meeting of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference last November, what the papal nuncio had told them about the kind of bishop the Pope wants, Bishop Cupich said, “Pope Francis doesn’t want culture warriors, he doesn’t want ideologues, that is the new paradigm for us, and it’s making many of us think”.
One thing is certain the new archbishop is “neither a culture warrior nor an ideologue”, a source who knows him well but did not wish to be identified told Vatican Insider after the news of his new appointment became public.
He recalled that Bishop Cupich once said, “It’s very easy in today’s polarized world to leave civility behind. But we must be able to speak of difficult issues in ways that don’t tear our communities apart”.
Various sources describe the new archbishop as “a generous, compassionate and prayerful man” with “a simple lifestyle” who is convinced that the Church in the USA has to give greater attention to the poor, the marginalized and the question of poverty in a wider agenda for life than the one that has prevailed up to now. “He is a pastor, who embodies the spirit and aims of Pope Francis”, one Vatican source added.
The Lavender Mafia/Officious Church Lady parish leadership model is O'Malley's vision for Boston.
A perusal of the priests O'Malley puts in positions of authority under his new collaborative model, along with the parishes he visits and praises and his sidelining of conservative priests shows clearly where his values lie. They are very much in line with the liberal reforms that Francis is putting forward. Consider that O'Malley, Dolan and Wuerl, three of the most liberal cardinals in America, are the Pope's trusted advisors and are selecting new bishops and making recommendations for new cardinals. What is happening in Boston and New York will be spreading all over the country.
Ever read O’Malley’s blog post, on “Cardinal Sean’s Blog,” about the Ted Kennedy funeral?
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/2009/09/02/on-senator-kennedys-funeral,/
It’s a good thing he doesn’t realize how revealing it is, or he’d take it down. It reveals him as a groveling, squealing schoolgirl when it comes to Democrat politicians and celebrities. He practically got down and licked Obama’s shoes.
The people are not obligated to kneel, but not having kneelers is contrary to liturgical law.
Just think, we could be getting rid of Obama and Francis at about the same time. If Obama doesn’t bring the U.S. to a definitive, complete end before that time, which he no doubt intends to do.
Cardinal George admitted to Robert Royal, his biographer, that he had soft-pedaled abortion, because he needs to raise $100 million a year from rich pro-aborts to support the Catholic schools.
Lots and lots of bishops are happy to be seen at the March for Life and will give a rip-roaring pro-life speech IN FRONT OF A PRO-LIFE AUDIENCE. Meanwhile, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, etc., etc., etc., waltz up for Communion.
Dolan is getting trophy in Pittsburgh shortly, named after Donald Wuerl, for his outstanding leadership in defense of innocent life. Barf!
That's him. His joining forces with the anti-Catholic Boston Globe (democrat rag) is par for the course.
I saw 0bama say this on TV: “The united states may fail, but my girls will be just fine.”
Don’t know when. Can’t find a news story. But I saw it. That was about the time I quit listening to him.
Can you share with us everything you know of him? My jaw dropped upon reading your post.
As a point of info, kneeling is a "western" form of worship. When the Gospel is read at mass, what action do you take? You stand! Why do you stand? Out of reverence. The Eastern Churches do not have kneelers. They stand, out of reverence and respect, during the Consecration. Kneeling is so ingrained in us westerners that "standing out of respect" poses a challenge.
In the Eastern Churches, yes, standing is done, as you said, out of reverence, although, it someone is having problems with standing, a chair is provided for. But both are reverent.
Just google and bing for “cupich pro-lifers” and “cupich abortion” and plenty turns up. I’ve posted everything I know.
With Cupich as Archbishop, the Catholic Left in Chicago, into which Bernardin poured millions of Church dollars, and which cesspool belched up Obama, will run riot.
A friend of mine, a Senate staffer thirty years ago, went on a trip on which he met personally with every Catholic bishop in Central America. They all asked him to meet with the Nuncio in Washington, and transmit their alarm at how the bishops’ conference in the U.S. was supporting the Communists. He had a meeting with Cupich (one of the Nuncio’s secretaries), who was silent and cold throughout the meeting. (The “Nuncio” at the time was, I think, actually the Apostolic Delegate.)
This is terrible, terrible news. The most evil bishops in America have the ear of the Pope. They are having a field day.
Kneelers are mandated by liturgical law in the West.
The laity at Mass are not bound by any specific rubrics. There simply are none. They may stand, kneel, sit, as they please. Certainly, no one should feel guilty for not kneeling on account of painful knees! No bishop has the right to mandate (as many have done) that people NOT kneel at the Ecce Agnus Dei or after Communion.
What would Christ want? Would Christ want 40 million babies aborted in the womb?
"...In the Latin Church... kneeling is the sign of adoration for Christ who has just become present on the altar. This came about through the dogmatic development of Eucharistic theology in the West. To go back to the earlier practice in the West would be a sign of devolution of doctrine, and in fact, that is the way the devout faithful perceive efforts to change Latin practice, as a counter-sign of faith..."
"...No kneelers. The liturgical law says we are to kneel, it does not require kneelers. There can only be one of two reasons a Catholic church would be built without kneelers or would remove them. Either the pastor is faithful and wants his people to do some penance by kneeling on the floor, in which case they should oblige him, or, he intends to disobey the liturgical law of the Roman Rite, in which case they should obey the Church. Naturally, if it is too hard for them to kneel then they are excused by n.43...."
https://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/kneeling_at_the_consecration.htm
On the sunnier side of the street, Francis is already in his late 70s and Cupich is 65. I am coming to the conclusion that the election of Francis was a grave mistake by the 2013 Conclave of Cardinals each and every one of whom was appointed by either Saint John Paul II or Benedict XVI. Mistakes are made in appointing cardinals by otherwise quite Catholic popes but someone appointed Wuerl, O'Malley, McPhony, the unlamented Bernardin, Madariaga (?) of Honduras and several other obvious mistakes.
One suspects that the next conclave will expend extra care on seeing to it that the blunder of 2013 is not repeated.
Cupich is an execrable excuse for a priest, much less a bishop, an archbishop and, obviously, a cardinal to be. He is awful in his bootlicking of an increasingly pagan culture. In Spokane, he would not "allow" Forty Days for Life protests in which, during the forty days of Lent, pro-lifers (not all of them Catholic by any means) would hold pro-life picket signs peacefully outside abortion mills on public sidewalks. He is a rank disgrace. Expect him to go into overdrive mouthing off against our military, against capitalism, against pro-lifers, against the sexually normal, in favor of the notorious Fr. Pfleger and Jesse Jackson. Bernardin is alive again!
If you put five hundred bishops' names in a hat and pulled one at random, all but maybe three, would have been a better choice. Expect Cupich and Francis to spend the rest of their lives sucking up to limousine leftists in a mad search for money and striving never to offend rich people whose daughters might want abortions and whose sons and daughters want "liberated" sex lives, believing that the Church should just shut up, mind its own business and leave the young to live as they please. The limousine crowd also believes, with Ted Kennedy, that spending other people's tax money on the poor will absolve them of their sins.
**Bernardin is alive again!**
In the persona of ?
Cupich.
As Catholics or Christians in general, we’re supposed to be counter cultural, not milk toasts, going with the flow.
Indeed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.